Anchoring apparatus



June 24, 1958 A. L. KANE ETAL ANCHORING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 25. 1955 INVENTORS Ala-aura L. KANE ALTON L. KEMP ATTORNEY l'lsually limited on boats United States Patent ANCHORTNG APPARATUS Arthur L. Kane and Alton L. Kemp, Youngstown, Ohio Application November 25, 1955, Serial No. 543,879 8 Claims. (Cl. 114-208) The present invention relates to anchors of the type used in connection with pleasure and fishing boats and the like, and has particular reference to the type of anchors which are implantedin the bottom of a lake or stream, for example, to ,hold the boat in the desired position.

The primary object of the invention is to provide anchoring apparatus which will hold the boat in the desired position no matter' what type of bottom is encountered. The difiiculty with many of the conventional anchors employing a plurality of fiukes extending generally transversel y from a main supporting rod is that they will not hold the boat when ,sand or other loose material, such as shale, gravel, or arthick layer of slimy mud, is encounpendent upon its weight for forcing the flukes into the bottom, and as a consequence, have to be of considerable ize and weight.

It is therefore an object ofthe present invention to provide an anchor which does not completely rely on its own mass for being planted in the bottom but in fact utilizes the tugging forcesexerted by. the movement of the boat to firmly seat the anchor in the bottom. With this in mind, it is yet a fufther'. objectof the inventionto provide anclio'ring apparatus which is readily disengageable and may be drawn up to the boat with, a minimum of physical effort and ir'er'tion. T Y I i ,Yet anothe'f-objec't Qf the invention -is to provide an anchor asserribly which will submerge inthe proper position regardless of its orientation when entering the water, and in this manner, is in the most effective grappling position when it reaches the bottom of theriver .or lake. This is an extremely advantageous result since it is not necessary to carefullylower the anchor into the water and it should be understood that any special lowering. proabove which is easily collapsed in a minimum of time to a cofnp'aet asseh ihly' that may be"re'adily stored in a limited space It'should be understood that because the anchor is' use'denly o'n specific occasions, and space is of this type, a compact assembly is verydesirahle. i

Another object of the invention is toprovide an anchor,which is of the utmost" simplicity in construction so as to be economical toiproduce and assemble, but wherein theeomplete anchor iseasily hand-led and yet alfor'ds ample holding and grappling ability by virtue'of its specific configuration. In the contemplated construction, the

2,840,031 Fatented June 24, 1958 anchor consists of a single diamond-shaped fluke and a projecting shank with the fluke having its tips turned in the proper orientation to form water deflecting fins and bills.

Other objects and advantages of the invention reside in certain improvements and simplifications of the anchoring device, and these, as well as the objects set forth, will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed specification and accompanying drawing wherein is disclosed a preferred embodiment of our invention.

In the drawing: v

Figure l is a side view of the anchoring apparatus with the shank shown in two positions constructed in accordance with, and for the purpose advanced by our invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the anchor depicted in either Figures 1 or 2; and

Figure 4 is an end sectional view taken along the section line IVIV of Figure 2.

' Referring now to the drawing and initially to Figure 1 thereof, the anchoring apparatus comprises a single fluke 10 which is an elongated diamond-shaped plate having a slight convex bow or curvature from the forward bill 11 to the rear tip 12. It is noted at the outset that the fluke 10 is not of equal thickness throughout its length but is thicker near the middle portion thereof than at the corners with the bill 11 formed to have a sharp point as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The side edges 13 and 14 of the diamond-shaped fluke 10 are turned upwardly, in the opposite direction of the bill 11 and the trailing point 12, to form water deflecting fins as shown in the front elevation, Figure 3. The side fins 13 and 14 are also rounded and thicker, not pointed, as is the case with the other two corners of the diamondshaped fluke 10.

Positioned near the forward bill 11 and intermediate I the water deflecting fins 13 and 14 on the fluke or palm 10 is the vertical 'but rearwardly slanting shank housing 15 having a pair of spaced side walls 16 spanned at the top thereof to form the opening 17. The shank housing 15 is adapted to slidably receive the shank 18 as shown in Figure 1 with the side walls 16 being spaced so as to prevent undue movement of the shank 18 in the transverse direction but yet allow it to be moved easily in the longitudinal direction. The shank 18 is a fiat heavy metal rod having an angled portion 19 near its rear end. The angle of this portion with respect to the rest of the shank 18 is relatively slight but is enough to insure proper positioning of the shank in either the collapsed or operative position. The extreme rear end of the shank 18 is provided with an enlarged circular stop 20 being or greater width than the opening 17 between the side walls 16 which prevents the shank from being pulled through the opening in the front longitudinal direction. An aperture 21 is provided in the forward end of the shank 18 for the attachment of a rope or other like means, not shown, for communicating with a boat, also not shown. It is entirely possible, and it may be desirable, to place a ring or shackle, not shown, through the opening 21 and then connect the rope to the shackle as is the usual practice in the art.

As shown in the drawing, when the anchoring apparatus is ready for grappling, the shank 18 extends forwardly and above the sharp bill 11 with thecircular stop 20 abutting against the side walls 16 of the shank housing 15 and resting on the fluke 10 while the angled portion 19 cooperates with that part of the shank housing 15 which spans the side walls to prevent the handle from being rotated too far in the vertical direction. However, when the anchor assembly is not in use the shank may be rotated downwardly and pushed through the housing v 3 toward'the trailing tip 12 as is shown in Figure 1. For storage and completely collapsing the anchor, the shank 18 may be further pushed toward the tip 12 so that the forwardand rearends thereofdo. not extend appreciably over thebill 11 and the tip 12 as is readily apparent to form a compact assembly requiring a minimum of space.

We have found that when the anchor is continually implanted in the bottom of a river or lake, as will be hereinafter more fully explained, that the shank. housing 15 tends to become clogged with mud and. silt under the shank.1 8 which dictates cleaning the apparatus. 'To partially alleviate this objection, we provide an elongated aperture 22 in the bottom of the fluke 10 between the side Walls 16 of the shank housing 15. When the anchor is, retracted into the boat, there will probably be mud and sedimentlodged in the housing 15, and to clearthis mud, it is only necessary to move the shank 18 rearwardly until the corner where the angle portion 19 joins the main shank portion is directly over the aperture 22. Then the shank is pivoted downwardly, thus forcing any collected mud through the opening 22 in the bottom of the fluke 10. It is easily seen that after several such movements, any mud or silt will be effectively removed and the assembly is ready for reuse or collapsing and storage.

In the operation of our new and novel anchoring apparatus, a rope is tied or attached by some othermeans, such as a ring or shackle through the aperture 21. When the operator of the boat finds a place where he wishes to anchor, all that is required is to throw the anchor overboard as no attention need be directed to the position it enters the water as the anchor will always right itself as it submerges. Even if the anchoring apparatus entersthe water in the most disadvantageous position (i. e. turned over from the position Shown in Figure l), the fins 13 and 14 will act to properly orientate it because .of the dynamieflow of water past the properly shaped fluke'ltl. It is Well known that a body traveling through a liquid medium assumes an orientation offering the least resistance to the'fluid, and this same principle is applied to the anchor as the upturned fins 13 and 14 offer much less drag when the anchor is descending in the 'proper' manner. In actual experimental tests, we have found. the anchor will obtain the desired orientation before submerging more than several feet no matter how it has entered the water.

fAlthough-the shank housing ,15 is placedtoward the forward bill 11, the thickness of the fluke 10 is such that the rear of the anchor is slightly heavier than the front portion. The effect of this uneven distribution of Weight is that when 'submerging, the tip 12 is lower than the rest of the fluke,'but the unbalance is not large enough to cause the fluke to descend in a completely vertical orientation but more at an angle with the horizontal. The force exerted through the rope and the shank 18 tends to keep the anchor in the angled position as well as causing the shank to be angled to the front and above the bill 11. Therefore, the rear tip 12 will make firs't contact with the lake or river bottom and then the sharp bill 11 will come to rest on the bottom. As soon as any appreciable pulling force is imparted to the anchor, the bill 11 will be forcibly implanted in the bottom, thus holding the boat in the desired location.

It is of no particular consequence as to the: composition of the bottom as the anchoring apparatus affords ample holding ability in all types of materials including sand, other loose granular matter or very soft muddy soil which have heretofore been a problem for more convenr r r the bed of the river or lake thereby precluding any possibility of the anchor becoming dislodged.

The anchoring apparatus described herein is particularly useful when a very soft muddy bottom is encountered where a thick layer of semi-solid slime is present as most other types of anchors tend to float in the slime, being unable to penetrate to firmer foundations and are therefore unable to develop suificient holding power. In contrast, our anchoring apparatus is especially well adapted for such conditions as the bill 11 is always forced to dig into the bottom until ample holding material has been found and the boat is securely anchored because of the convex bow or curvature of the fluke 10.

It is suggested that the various parts of the anchor will be made from castings and/or sheet material having a fairly high density thereby giving the anchor the weight necessary to implant it on the floor of a river or lake. In the contemplated construction, the fluke 10, with the various corners, and the shank housing 15,will be made from a single casting, although it is possible to fabricate the housing 15 separately and then attach it to the fluke by welding or some other expedient means in the general area of the housing. shown in the drawing. The shank 18 will be made from a separate piece of metal with a minimum of machining operations and the resulting pieces assembled to form the anchoring apparatus.

It should thus be apparent that we have accomplished the objects initially set forth. The inventiondisclosed herein provides for a unique anchoring apparatus for use in fishing or pleasure craft that may be used without concern to the type of bottom encountered.

Of particular importance in the present invention is the novel construction of the anchor employing a diamond-shaped fluke having the corners thereof turned in the right direction to properly orientate the anchor during its descent to the bottom. This arrangement precludes the need of special handling of the anchor while entering the water or submerging, the cause of much annoyance among boat owners and operators The fluke is of large surface area so that the ancho'r'is adapted to hold in all kinds and types of bottoms, such as sand or shale, since the large surface area will not allow the material to slip around the fluke. The upturnedfins also aid in this holding of the material on top of the fluke. As previously discussed, more conventional type anchors are rendered inoperative when certain types of bottoms are encountered. 1

Another important consideration of the invention is the convex bow of the fluke with sharp leading and trailing hills which insures that the fluke will always be implanted firmly in the river or lake bed no matter what type of force is exerted to dislodge the anchor. It should be understood however, that the anchor is easy to dislodge by continued application of large vertical pulling forces and it is almost impossible for the fluke to become tangled in underwater growth or with the rope communicating with the boat because of its simple construction and the many positions the shank may be rotated to in working the anchor loose from the bottom.

Attention is also drawn to the simplicity of the anchor assembly and the provision for collapsing the anchor for storage while it is not in use. The shank may be either positioned so as to rest on the fluke which makes a compact arrangement, or if the owner desires, be removed and stored separately from the fluke. In either case the anchor assembly occupies a minimum of space and it is seen that there are no particularly difficult collapsing procedures required to prepare the anchor for storage or for use.

Another aspect of the invention is the novelmeans for cleaning the shank housing of accumulated mud and dirt. This is accomplished by providing an elongated aperture under the housing and working the shankup and down to force the mud and dirt from the shank housing.

The anchor assembly is one of utmost simplicity requiring only elementary castings and consists of only two parts, mainly the fluke with the shank housing attached thereto and the shank for attaching a rope. Although the design is simple the resulting compact anchoring apparatus provides better grappling and holding characteristics than has heretofore been known in the art.

It should be understood, however, that the specific embodiment herein described is intended to be illustrative only, as certain obvious changes may be made therein without departing from the scope or intent of the teachings of our invention. Reference should therefore be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In an anchor assembly the combination of a platelike fluke being diamond-shaped in plan outline, said outline thereby defining front and rear bills, said fluke having a convex curvature about an axis transverse to said bills causing said bills to be inclined downwardly, said outline also defining side edge fins, said fins being turned upwardly from said fluke providing righting means operative to properly orientate said anchor during submerging, a shank housing positoned near one of said bills, a shank slidably received in said housing adapted to'be pivoted about one end portion thereof in the vertical direction, and limiting means to limit said pivoting.

2. An anchor assembly consisting of a fluke having a diamond-shaped plan outline defining four corners, said fluke having a convex curvature about an axis parallel to but displaced from an axis joining two opposite corners, said two opposite corners being turned upwardly and forming water deflecting fins, the other opposite pair of corners forming downwardly directed bills, a shank housing placed on said fluke, a shank slidably received in said shank housing having an angled portion and adapted for vertical pivoting on one end thereof, said angled portion having means to limit said longitudinal and pivoting motion, a vertical aperture in said fluke below said housing, said aperture operative when said shank is pivoted to a position where the other end thereof is above the plane of said fluke to cooperate with said angled portion to clear mud and dirt from said shank housing.

3. An anchor assembly consisting of a single fluke having a diamond-shaped plan outline and a shank member, said fluke having a slight curvature about a transverse axis parallel to but displaced from an axis joining two opposite corners, said opposite corners upturned to form water deflecting fins, the other two opposite corners pointed in the opposite direction to form bills, a shank housing attached to said fluke, a shank slidably received in said shank housing and said shank adapted for limited pivotal movement in the vertical direction, and a vertical aperture in said fluke below said shank housing whereby when said shank is rotated mud accumulated in said housing is forced through said aperture.

4. An anchor consisting of a single diamond-shaped fluke having opposite pairs of corners turned upwardly and downwardly respectively, said upwardly turned corners defining fins, said downwardly turned corners forming sharp bills, a shank housing positioned on said fluke, a shank slidably received in said shank housing and adapted for vertical pivoting about an end portion thereof, said end portion being angled slightly from the rest of said shank, means on one end of said angled portion to limit said pivoting and slidable movement in said shank housing, and means for attaching the other end of said shank to means communicating with a boat.

5. In an anchor assembly of the type having a single fluke and a shank member, a plate having a slight convex curvature defining a plurality of corners, a portion of said plurality of corners being turned upwardly to form fins, another portion of said corners turned in the opposite direction of said first mentioned portion to form bills, said plate having a generally diamond-shaped plan outline, said convex curvature being developed about an axis parallel to but displaced from an axis joining two opposite corners of said diamond-shaped fluke, and said opposite corners being said first mentioned portion of said corners.

6. An anchor assembly comprising a plate-like fluke having a generally diamond-shaped plan outline, said outline defining front and rear bills, said bills being turned downwardly, said outline further defining side edge fins, said fins being turned upwardly from said fluke and providing righting means operative to properly orientate said anchor during submerging, a shank housing positioned on said plate like fluke near one of said bills, and a shank pivotally received in said housing for limited pivotal movement.

7. An anchor assembly comprising a single fluke having a diamond-shaped plan outline and a shank member, said' outline thereby defining front and rear bills, said fluke having a curvature about an axis transverse to said bills, the other opposite corners of said fluke defining water deflecting fins, a shank housing attached to said fluke, and a shank pivotally received in said shank housing for limited pivotal movement.

8. An anchor assembly comprising a single fluke having a diamondshaped plan outline and a shank member, said outline thereby defining front and rear bills, said fluke having a slight curvature about an axis transverseto to said bills whereby said bills are turned downwardly, and the other opposite corners of said fluke defining water deflecting fin means.

References Cited'in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,550,451 Pardey Aug. 18, 1925 

